Full Programming Schedule Announced for 43rd Annual Northwest Folklife Festival

249 NEW Performers, 35 NEW Music Showcases, First-Time

Visual Arts and Film Programming

May 23-26 at Seattle Center – NWFolklife.org/Festival

Seattle’s Northwest Folklife today announced the full schedule of events for the 43rd annual Northwest Folklife Festival, the non-profit’s signature event. The Festival features over 5,000 performers from over 65 different cultural communities that help to make up the Northwest, available to all for no admission charge, thanks to donations from the community at large. The Northwest Folklife Festival runs May 23-26 on Seattle Center grounds, with hours of operation each day from 11 a.m. to 10 p.m.

This year’s Festival is not only packed with programming and events that people have grown to look forward to at the annual event, but it is also loaded with all kinds of new programming – namely film.

“We are so excited about this year’s partnership with SIFF,” Kelli Faryar, head of programming commented. “There are so many films screening at the Film Center this year that people could actually just watch movies all day – for free! Some of the titles we’re very excited about include Light in the Attic’s ‘Wheedle’s Groove,’ the newly released ‘The Lunchbox,’ and in tribute to Pete Seeger, ‘Power of Song,’ but really there are many others to enjoy.”

Northwest Folklife has also added visual arts to the Festival’s programming line-up in a brand new way, offering up the 1st Annual PaperStock poster show, and a hands-on Fiber Arts area. Paperstock is a curation of some of the Pacific Northwest’s best poster artists and will feature the work of many popular concert poster and silk screen print artists working today. In addition to seeing fine poster art in person and meeting the artists who’ve created it, there will also be onsite screen printing demonstrations for festival goers to witness first hand how prints are produced. Additionally, there will be demonstrating artists creating various fiber arts projects – blankets, baskets, quilts, jewelry and more – in the Alki Court area throughout the Festival.

In addition to expanded Indie Roots programming (sponsored by KEXP 90.3) and a bigger than ever Discovery Zone for families (sponsored by ParentMap), the Northwest Folklife Festival is excited to bring 249 first-time artists to its stages including Naomi Wachira, Mikey and Matty, and Hillstomp from Portland – to name a few. There are over 35 new showcases and some of the Pacific Northwest’s favorite artists and Festival events are returning – like the Saturday night “Soul of Seattle” Showcase and Monday night’s reggae showcase featuring Clinton Fearon, both taking place at the Xfinity Mural Amphitheatre.